


Punk Goes Pop

by DrawYourGunsR5



Category: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bands, F/F, M/M, Rivalry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-02-03 07:12:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12743526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrawYourGunsR5/pseuds/DrawYourGunsR5
Summary: Todd's band, Mexican Funeral, was - in his opinion - the best band in the land. Dirk's band, The Coinkydinks, was - in Todd's opinion - the worst. Todd hated Dirk. He hated the music he played, he hated the outfits they wore on stage, and most of all he hated their name, Coinkydinks. And with Silas of the Mexican Funeral dating Panto of the Coinkydinks, Todd was forced to spend time with flamboyant Dirk Gently. But something about Dirk that isn't what Todd expected. It was almost like the universe was pushing them to each other.





	1. When You Thought No One Was Listening

Dirk Gently. Todd was so sick of hearing that name. Dirk Gently of the Coinkydinks. What a stupid name for a band. Todd often wondered how they were popular, they only surfaced a few months ago, and somehow they were more popular than Todd's band, Mexican Funeral. And Dirk, well he was just as stupid as the name. His lyrics are a mess, the music he plays is just bad, and his bass player looks like he's straight out a fairy tale. But Todd wasn't allowed to hate Panto, the fairy tale boy, however, because he was dating the guitar player, Silas, in his own band. That irritated Todd the most. Silas and Panto were so perfect for each other, but because they were together, Todd had to see Dirk a lot more than he wanted to. Todd supported Silas and his boyfriend, but when it came to Dirk Gently, Coinkydinks was the worst things that's ever happened to him.

"Todd hurry up!" Farah shouted as she walked past the bathroom. "We have to leave in 10 minutes and other people live here too!"

Todd opened the door. "Yeah and who shot down my idea to move into a better apartment?"

"That's because it's unrealistic Todd," Farah commented as she squeezed into the too-small bathroom.

Todd sighed and walked into the kitchen, expecting food. Today was Tina's turn to make dinner.

"Tina Teventino! Dinner!" Todd shouted.

"She left already!" Silas informed him from the other room.

Todd groaned.

As if she was summoned, Tina can running into the apartment singing, "I have pizza! I have pizza!"

Silas ran in and started eating.

"We leave in 5 minutes, T. Are you ready?" Todd asked.

"I'm always ready, dude. Come on, have a little faith in me." Tina leaned against the counter and took a bite of her food.

"Well it's just that last time we were halfway through the concert when you realized you left your drum sticks at home."

Almost immediately, Tina started walking toward her room. "One time. You make a mistake one time and you get branded for life."

"Going to get your drum sticks?" Todd asked.

"Yep!" She said proudly with her middle finger in the air.

Todd chuckled and started eating, for a few short moments of relaxation before the concert. Within two minutes his friends were rushing through the apartment getting things together at the last second, like always. Soon, they were out the door and on their way to the venue.

"Silas," Tina sang as they unloaded their van. "Excited to see your boyfriend peform?"

Silas blushed slightly. "Of course I am."

"Has anyone seen Amanda?" Todd asked just to change the subject. "She said she'd meet us here."

"Oh, she texted me and said she'd be a little late. She'll be here time to watch us though." Farah told him.

Todd mumbled something under his breath. He wasn't looking forward to the concert tonight, unlike he normally is. Tonight the Mexican Funeral and the Coinkydinks were playing at the same venue. Todd had been able to avoid this in a few months the two bands had been clashing, but tonight was a mix up.

"If that Dirk Gently says one word to me," Todd whispered to Tina, "Do I have permission to punch him?"

Tina opened her mouth to respond but before she could, an all-too-excited voiced chirped behind them. "Permission to punch who?"

Todd rolled his eyes and turned around to face Dirk. He said nothing and barely even looked at him. He walked past Dirk, carrying his guitar case, thinking about things he wanted to say to him but decided he was a bit nicer than his thoughts. He kept his mouth shut and walked to the stage.

"I have a feeling he hates me," Dirk suggested to Tina.

"He hates everyone that isn't his sister, don't take it personally, bud." Tina tapped his shoulder for encouragement as she ran past him to help the rest of her band with set up on the stage.

``

"Good show my brother! As always," Amanda said as she found Todd and his band backstage after the concert was over.

"Fantastic cheering sister, as always." She had shown up halfway through the first song in their set, but Todd hadn't noticed. "Wish you guys had preformed tonight. Why'd you drop out last second?"

"Vogel had a family emergency, Martin refuses to preform without him," She explained.

Todd chuckled, "Is he forgetting the band started with just him, Cross, and Gripps?"

Amanda shrugged.

"So how are you feeling tonight? You look good."

"Good," She answered. "I'm sorry for worrying you last night. It was nothing, I shouldn't have called you."

Todd set a hand on his sister's shoulder, "Hey, if it's getting worse you can tell me. Don't feel bad for worrying me."

Amanda smiled at her brother. She really was lucky to have him. For the past few years she's suffered from a rare nerve disease called Pararibulitus. She had good days and bad days, and Todd was there for all of them. There were a few times when he wanted her to move with him and his band into their apartment but always came to the conclusion it was too small to hold any more people, as it was nearly bursting at the seems with the four of Mexican Funeral. But Todd did what he could for Amanda, and it was always enough.

"Hey sister! Come over here!" Tina shouted.

Amanda ran over to Tina for whatever she needed.

Todd looked over to them. Tina was showing Amanda something on her phone. Silas and Panto were God-knows-where. Todd sighed, coming to the conclusion that he would have to load up the van himself. He carried a box of stuff out to the van, humming a tune he had heard earlier that day, he couldn't remember where it came from. As he got to the van, he slipped on a small patch off ice. He landed on his back with the contents of the box spilling beside him. He grumbled something to himself and rubbed his forehead.

"Oh God! Are you alright?" He heard a British voice call out.

Todd opened his eyes and saw Dirk kneeling behind him, picking up the papers that had fallen away from him. He sat up and scrambled to grab his stuff before Dirk could. "I'm fine."

"It looked like you hit your head. Here, let me get this for you." Dirk stood up, picking up the box and put it in Todd's van.

Dirk reached his hand out for Todd, who was still sitting on the snowy ground. Todd took his hand and pulled himself up, whispering _thanks_ as he got to his feet.

"I saw you talking to Amanda in there. How is she doing?" Dirk asked as they began walking back inside to continue packing up.

"How do you know Amanda?" Todd avoided his question.

"I grew up with the Rowdy 3, back when it was only the three. I never really got along with them until we became adults and even now," Dirk stopped and chuckled nervously. "Our relationship is weird. But I like Amanda, she's nice."

"She's my best friend."

Todd reached for his guitar case, but his hand ran into Dirk's on the way. His eyes lifted to meet Dirk's and suddenly Todd remembered he hated him. "I got it." he asserted.

Dirk nodded and pulled his hand back.

"She talks about you a lot," Dirk quickly added, before they got caught up with the guitar.

"Who?" Todd had forgotten what they were talking about.

"Amanda. You take care of her. You're a good brother, she's lucky to have you."

"She's always been there for me. I'm lucky to have her."

"Yes, I suppose it would would both ways - here, let me get the door for you." Dirk held the door open while Todd put his case in the van. Careful not to slip again, he jogged back inside for warmth.

Dirk helped Todd load up the rest of his stuff into the van, while making awkward small talk. It only took a couple trips outside before they were finished.

"Well that's it. Thanks for helping, sometimes my friends can be useless," Todd joked.

"Oh it's no problem. Actually that reminds me, my band is probably wondering where I am. I should probably go," Dirk pointed out. "But I wanted to tell you something."

"What?"

"Well, it's just that you're kind of my hero. Your band is what got me into music. So, thanks for that." Dirk smiled like a little kid. 

Todd was slightly taken aback by the comment. No one has ever called him their hero, and it was strange hearing it from Dirk. He couldn't think of anything to say to the compliment, since he wasn't used to getting them. His lips broke into a crooked smile, "And yet, you play stupid pop music."

"Ironic. You're calling my music stupid, yet just half an hour ago you were humming one of my songs when you thought no one was listening." Dirk quipped with a sly smile. "I'll see you around, Todd." He turned and ran off to find his own band, leaving Todd speechless.

Tina, who had been missing this past half hour, came running up to Todd. "Hey boss. Ready to go home?"

Todd nodded and walked to the van, still trying to process what had just happened between him and Dirk.

"Todd? You alright? You have the glassy look in eyes that I get when I look at Farah," Tina noticed.

Farah blushed slightly as Tina winked in her direction.

Todd shook his head. "What no! What you talking about?" 

"Ohhhhhh! I saw you with Dirk! Don't hate him as much as you thought hmmm?" Tina teased.

"Tina, that's terrifying. Have you heard him speak? He's annoyingly British." Todd argued.

"Oh, who was it that was saying British accents were cute?" Farah chimed in.

"Okay that was two years ago and that was before I met Dirk. And I said that about girls, Farah. Girls are cute."

Farah locked eyes with Tina. "I know they are."

This time, Tina blushed profusely.

Todd rolled his eyes, "God, would you two just date already?"

"I ship it!" Silas added from the front of the van.

"OH would you shut up and drive?" Farah joked.

The subject was changed and for the rest of the ride, and Todd hadn't given Dirk a second thought. When they got home Todd made his friends unload the van, since none of them helped load it up. He went to bed, to be alone with his thoughts. He still didn't know what to think about Dirk's comments but he knew one thing - he definitely hated him a bit less now.


	2. Silly Little Love Song

 "Dude, that's fantastic," Tina cried into her laughs. The group had fallen into a fit of laughter from a story Dirk had told.

"Oh well I'm glad it could serve for your entertainment. I have to live with a shark tattoo for the rest of my life!" Dirk chuckled.

"Oh now you have to show us," Todd begged.

It had been a few weeks since the concert. Todd and Dirk had strangely became friends. It was weird, and Tina teased him for it every day. They spent concerts together when the other wasn't on stage. They hangout a lot, actually, without the rest of the bands. They had almost nothing and everything in common. It was nice for Todd to talk to Dirk, and Dirk liked to listen. It was the first real friendship, besides with his band mates, that Todd had in a while that meant something to him. He started to think of Dirk as a best friend. And it was easy. It was fun.

Thor, the drummer of Dirk's band, argued, "Oh no. I'm probably the only one that's seen it."

Dirk gasped. "Oh now you're just being rude. You're not the only guy I've slept with."

"Whoa wait! You two slept together?!" Tina shouted.

"Once. It was two years ago and way too weird. Never again," Dirk explained.

They were at a little club that had live bands every Friday. Dirk's band was playing tonight. The Mexican Funeral wasn't, due to Farah being out of town for a family thing.

Sherlock Hobbs - the fourth member of Coinkydinks - shouted in protest, "Oh stop reminding me! I was just beginning to forget."

The groups laughter exploded again. It wasn't long after that the Coinkydinks had to go onstage.

Todd, Tina, and Silas went to the front of the crowd to cheer them on.

After the fourth song, Panto approached the mic. He announced a new song that he and Dirk had written a few days ago. Panto was the one to sing most of the song, but there were a few parts Dirk sang. Seeing as it was a love song, Panto was obviously singing to Silas. But there was one line Dirk sang, that stuck out a little more to Todd than to the rest. When he sang the line, Todd thought he saw Dirk looking at him. Quickly, Todd shrugged it off. He knew that Dirk got nervous on stage, and it was easy to forget you're nervous when you look at your friends. Yeah, Todd decided that was reason Dirk looked at him. It was easy. It was a good reason. But why was his heart beating so fast? Why did it feel like he was floating? Why did he feel so nervous when he saw Dirk after he performed?

The strange feeling Todd felt lingering above him went away as soon as he heard Dirk speak. "So, what'd you guys think of the new song?"

"I loved it," Silas beamed while giving his boyfriend _serious_ heart eyes.

Tina started raving over it.

"Todd? What'd you think?" Dirk asked.

"It wasn't bad."

"Are you kidding?" Tina protested. " _Wasn't bad_? Todd Broztman, I love you bro, but you're wrong. The song was perfect. You guys did amazing.”

"I'm just not into pop, but you looked like you were having fun up there. You put on a good show," Todd reassured. "It wasn't bad."

Dirk sighed. "There's no helping you is there?" He joked.

Todd shrugged. “I guess not. But I enjoyed watching you, I’ll give you that.”

Dirk’s lips broke into a goofy grin. “It’s a start!”

Todd rolled his eyes.

The group kept watching the rest of the bands preform - there were only about three more until it was over. Once, while Todd and Tina went to the bar to get a round of drinks for everyone, Todd looked up and saw Dirk surrounded by girls. It was strange to see Dirk signing all their things.

"-looks could kill.”

”What?” Todd hadn’t noticed Tina was speaking until he heard the last few words.

“You’re shooting daggers at those girls with Dirk,” Tina noticed.

Todd face scrunched up. “Aren’t those the same girls that were begging for my autograph last week?”

”Oh! Toddy’s jealous he’s loosing his fans to the cute new British guy?” She teased. “Or, maybe you’re jealous the cute new British guys has fawning ladies on his arms?”

”What? No! It’s just - his band has only been around for a few months. We’ve been performing here for three years. It’s not weird to you how popular they’re getting?”

Tina shrugged. “I could care less about the popularity. I’m here for the free beer. And 20 year old girls will do anything for a British guy. Especially one as gorgeous as Dirk.”

“He’s gay, do they not see that? I mean they’re very obviously flirting with him. Touching his shoulder, calling him sexy. And he’s-“ Todd stopped. At that moment when he looked across the room, a pair of eyes met his.

"And he’s looking at you,” Tina said softly.

Todd broke his eye contact with Dirk to look at Tina. “Yeah.”

”Dirk’s got a crush on Todd. Dirk’s got a crush on Todd,” Tina sang.

”Would you stop that? He does not.”

She didn’t stop. She kept singing her song to prove a point.

”And so what if he did? I’m straight, T.” Todd laughed. It was an unsure laugh, because at this point Todd had no idea what he was. But what he did know was that a mysterious guy wasn’t going to show up out of nowhere, play a silly little love song, and make Todd swoon. He knew that a British accent wasn’t going to turn him. And he knew Dirk Gently didn’t mean a thing to him.

But what he didn’t know, was that Dirk was standing behind him when he said all that out loud.

"Well if that's how you feel, I'm sorry to have bothered you." A British voice said behind Todd.

"Oh no, Dirk wait, listen that's not what I meant." It was too late, Dirk was already halfway to the door. Todd followed him outside.

"Dirk wait." Todd pleaded as he followed behind Dirk.

Dirk spun around. "What? Are you just going to tell me how I mean nothing to you? You don't have to say it. I got the message." He started to turn back around but Todd stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

"You know that's not true," Todd assured. "You're my friend, Dirk."

They were strangely close to each other. Not that that was anything knew, in the month they've been friends neither of them cared about personal space. But this time felt slightly different. This time they felt closer than before.

"Friends don't do this, Todd." Dirk breathed.

"What?"

Dirk took a small step backward, but didn't lose Todd's grip on his wrist. "I've never been good at friends. All I've got are the guys in my band, and I feel like I hardly know them. But I know that friends don't do the things we do. Friends don't almost hold hands, and hug each other a little longer than the rest, or stare into each other's eyes for a questionable amount of time. So be real with me Todd. If I mean nothing to you, what is this?"

"I- I don't know." Todd stuttered. He let go of Dirk’s wrist, but felt his fingertips brush against Dirk’s as his hand fell to his side. He never noticed those things Dirk mentioned until Dirk mentioned them. But looking back, there were plenty of times when one of them would get excited and grab the other's hand for a moment. There were times when they'd wrap an arm around each other before one of them left. There were times when Todd caught himself staring at Dirk.

The next thing happened fast. Too fast. It was weird. Not weird enough. Not long enough. They both wanted to hold onto the moment, but it was too short. The kiss was gone faster than it had appeared. Todd hadn't even realized Dirk was kissing him until after he pulled away. He didn't have enough time to kiss back.

"When you find out, you know where to find me." Dirk slowly let go of Todd's collar and turned around and ran back inside.

Todd stood alone in the bitter cold air. He was frozen in place. Even his mind was frozen. He didn't know what to think or what to do.

He told himself he needed to breath, but he seemed to have forgotten how. His feet started to move. He didn't plan on going anywhere, he just walked. It was dark and cold and he didn't say goodbye to his friends, but he kept walking. His mind spun quickly as his feet moved slow.

Dirk kissed him. Dirk Gently, who is too soft for this world, kissed Todd Brotzman. And Todd _liked_ it? He felt his heart beat quicken when he replayed to moment in his mind. He wanted to replay it in real life. He wished he could go back to the moment and kiss him back, but Dirk pulled away too fast. Did Dirk change his mind? Did he suddenly realize that he felt nothing for Todd the second he kissed him? Was it a pity kiss? What did it mean to Dirk? What did it mean to Todd? He never thought about this with another guy before? Actually, he never felt like this with anyone. He had a small crush on Farah when they had first met, but it ended faster than it started. He realized his feelings weren’t as strong as he thought and she realized she was into girls. It was an interesting situation. But not as interesting as this one.

Todd was interrupted by his thoughts when a car pulled up beside him. "Todd Broztman! Why are you on the side of the road?" Tina shouted from her car.

Todd quickly got into her car, as he suddenly realized how cold he was. "Just felt like walking for a while. Why did you leave the concert so soon?"

Tina chuckled. "The concert's been over for almost an hour, dude."

Todd looked at the clock. He had spent over an hour walking in the cold thinking about Dirk. Time had never crossed his mind. 

"Where's Silas?" He asked, to change the subject.

"Oh he went home with Panto. I think he _really_ liked that new song if you know what I mean?" Tina said in her little singy voice she always had.

Todd sighed, "Yeah it was pretty good."

Tina glanced over at him for a second. "Oh yeah? You wanna talk about the way Dirk was looking at you throughout the whole song?"

Todd rolled his eyes. Of course he wanted to talk about it. And as much as he loved Tina, she wasn't the right person to talk to about this. So he said nothing to her, but he looked out his window and smiled while he thought of that line Dirk sang. He thought of Dirk writing that one line for him. He just simply, thought of Dirk. He continuously replayed the line and the kiss in his mind trying to make sense of it. He thought he never could.

_I'm falling for your eyes, but they don't know me yet._


	3. Call It A Hunch

It was easier to pretend it didn't happen. Dirk could tell Todd wasn't ready to face what was going on in his mind. He respected that. Dirk had gone through something similar growing up. Not with his sexuality, but when he was young he went through some crazy stuff that took awhile for him to come to terms with. He understood what Todd was going through, and he didn't want to cross any lines by asking him about it. He was already on thin ice from kissing him last week, things were just starting to get normal again. They agreed not to tell anyone or talk about it. It was easy. They pretended to forget about it, but both of them were far from it.

"Two words; free booze," Tina announced.

"I'm always down for free booze, Tina Teventino, but could you tell me what it's for?" Todd asked.

Tina jumped up and sat on the kitchen counter, grabbing a piece of pizza from the box beside her. "Well, Todd Broztman, we - the Mexican Funeral - have been invited to the best party you could get into in Seattle. There will be free booze, hot girls, hot guys. All you have to do is bring Dirk as your plus one."

"Sounds fun, T. Why do I have to bring Dirk?"

"Your sister will already be there, hence the hot girls, and Dirk needs an invite. Silas is obviously bringing Panto and Farah is taking Thor. I've got Hobbs so by process of elimination, Dirk's your date."

Todd felt something twist in his chest at that word. He was glad he was looking through the fridge and door was blocking him from Tina's view or she would have commented on his blushing face. "When is it?" He asked, trying to avoid his own thoughts.

"Tomorrow."

***

The two bands rode together to the party in a limo Tina had rented for the night. The Rowdy 3 took their own van, as they couldn’t get there until a bit later than the rest of the gang. Before leaving the limo when they arrived to the party, Tina raised her glass.

”Before we go, I would like to make a toast. To Farah, for finally coming out to your family. I’m so proud of you girl!”

Everyone in the limo cheered for Farah, she had only told Tina earlier that day she came out to her family. So the group hugged her and laughed and told her they were proud of her.

”Alright, Todd would you do the honors?” Tina requested.

Todd smiled and said the traditional line that someone in the band would say before every show or party. “Let’s fuck this shit up tonight!”

Everyone in the limo screamed a little louder as they jumped out and ran into the party.

The music was loud. The night was great. Tina had gotten on stage and did a half-hour of drunken karaoke. Farah and Amanda might have made-out, but they won't remember it in the morning. The Rowdies found a new friend, with bright rainbow hair, and they spent the night wreaking havoc with her. Panto and Silas claimed that the party wasn't their scene (liars) and left together. Thor and Hobbs ended up in a heated debate about the proper uses of who and whom, each trying to win without using the internet for answers. Dirk and Todd were left on their own when Tina went home with a random cute girl. Both of them were slightly drunk, not nearly enough to forget anything in the next morning, but just drunk enough to say things they probably wouldn't when sober.

It was the third time that night Todd had fallen over into Dirk's arms after laughing too hard.

"Oh Todd, you must stop falling for me. At this point it's just sad." Dirk joked.

But when Dirk said that Todd knew he had to get something off his chest. Well, it was more like the words slipped out of his mouth and he didn't have much control. But once they were out in the open, he couldn't take them back. He almost didn't want to.

"I think I really am falling for you, Dirk." Todd confessed.

Dirk nearly spat out his drink. "You what?"

"You heard me, Dirk. You're just so handsome, how could I not fall for you?" Todd slurred. He hadn't noticed but somehow his arms were around Dirk's torso. He rested his head on Dirk's shoulder. It felt nice. He couldn't think of why they didn't hug like this more often.

"Todd, you are so sweet. I don't blame you for falling for me. I'm adorable." Dirk rested his chin on top of Todd's head. They swayed to the fast music carefully for a while. Neither of them wanted to pull away from their embrace. But eventually they found themselves yelling and kissing and grabbing each other's butts. The party came to a close and they went home.

In the morning Todd felt a pair of arms around his waist as he woke up. Before he was fully wake he let out a content sigh and pulled the foreign body closer to him. But as his mind began to process last night's events, he remembered who was lying beside him. In a fit of panic he jumped out of bed, accidentally pulling the blankets off as wall. He looked himself and Dirk over. they both had all their clothes on.

 _Thank God_ , he thought. _I don't have time do deal with that too._

The sound of Todd nearly falling off the bed woke up Dirk, who smiled when he saw Todd.

"Good morning sunshine. _Oh_." Dirk pressed a hand onto his forehead. Hangovers aren't something he's used to just yet.

Without a second thought Todd found himself in the kitchen scrambling to find aspirin for Dirk.

"So that was, interesting." Dirk said as Todd returned with a glass of water and an aspirin.

Todd didn't respond.

Dirk signed. "This again?"

"Look Dirk, last night was weird, yes. But we were drunk. It was nothing."

"That didn't feel like nothing." 

Todd gulped. He knew it wasn't nothing. But his brain was spinning so fast he couldn't think of what might happen if it did mean something. "Drink your water. It'll help with the headache."

"Todd," Dirk sighed. "We should talk about it."

"What’s there to talk about?"

"Oh maybe the fact that we might have made out for a couple hours and then we might have gone home together and maybe we proceeded to fall asleep cuddling. Oh and there's a huge chance you admitted you have feelings for me. That was impressive." 

Todd shivered and sat down next to Dirk. "I don't know what I'm doing."

"Let me help you," Dirk begged. "You need to talk through this. It will kill you if you keep it all bottled up inside. Tell me what you're so afraid of."

Unconsciously Todd grabbed Dirk's hand and intertwined their fingers. He sighed. "I have no idea what my feelings are for you. All I know is I'm terrified of losing you."

"I'm not going anywhere."

Todd felt tears well up in his eyes but he blinked them away. "I've messed up every relationship I've ever been in. How do you know I won't mess up this?"

Dirk set his free hand on Todd's cheek. "Call it a hunch, but I know I'm not going anywhere."

Todd felt something relax inside him. As he stared into Dirk's eyes his heart picked up it's pace, his breathing quickened.

They were both already leaning in when Dirk whispered, "Can I kiss you?"

Todd closed his eyes and nodded.

Dirk's lips had a strange butterscotch taste to them. Todd loved it. Their lips pressed together gently at first, and then hungrier after a couple seconds passed. It felt like each kiss before this one had meant nothing. Just some weird activity drunk friends do to pass the time. But now it felt real. Magical. Todd felt safe. He wasn't worried about what other people thought anymore. He was only concerned about Dirk and how he was feeling. And Dirk was feeling just as magical as Todd. They surfed on a euphoric cloud of hungover happiness for a few extra seconds until they needed to breath. When they pulled away they could only do two things, look at each other and smile. And that's what they did.

 


	4. Cupid Screwed Up

Seven days. That's how long they had been together.

Seven days. Possibly the best seven days of his life.

Seven days. That's how long it's been since the break up.

Seven days. Possibly the worst seven days of his life.

Todd wasn't much of a crier, the last time he really cried was when Amanda had her first attack. But when Dirk broke up with him, he thought he'd never felt so much pain. He tried so hard to pretend it didn't happen. It was only seven days, how could it have meant so much to him to have broken his heart? 

"Todd, you have to talk about it," Silas cooed.

Todd rested his chin into his hand in response.

Silas sighed and sat down in the chair across from Todd at the table. "Look, I understand if you don't want to talk to me, but you must talk to someone. Why don't you call Amanda? You tell her everything."

Todd shook his head. "No, it just doesn't feel right. Talking about it, I mean."

There was a moment of silence before Silas broke it. "You know, when Panto and I started dating, we kept it a secret for a long time. He wasn't ready to come out yet. I think we were together for nearly a year before we started telling people."

"I know, I remember. Why are you telling me this again?"

"You identified as straight for 35 years. And suddenly a man named Dirk Gently comes into your life and throws you into a loop of confusion. It took you some time to figure it out but when you and Dirk made it official, you were so excited to tell your friends. And I am so proud of you for that. I've never seen you happier than when you're with Dirk. Cupid made the right choice, putting you two together. So whatever is going on between you right now, I think you can fix it."

Todd shook his head, and everything that’s been building up in the past week came rushing out. "You know what? No. I don't need to hear _that_ from you right now. I don't need you to tell me how happy I was when I was with him. Those seven days meant nothing to him. They didn't matter. I didn't matter to him. He didn't care about me. We weren't the perfect 'sexuality discovered' relationship. Okay? Cupid screwed up! Me and Dirk weren't meant to be together. We're nothing. We were never anything more than nothing. To him it was just a stupid thing to pass the time. Dirk Gently is the worst thing that's ever happened to me. Because now I have nothing. I am apparently someone I didn't know existed for 35 years and now I don't know what to do with myself. He turned me into a mess of a person. So, no, keep your Hallmark card. I'm done pretending he did me a favor."

Silas took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "Well, do you want to tell me how you actually feel now?"

Todd's body shook and a tear slid down his cheek. "I miss him so much.” He mumbled. “I keep replaying his words in my head and they still don't make any sense."

"What did he say?"

"That- that the universe didn't want us together?" Todd's chest tightened and he needed to remind himself to breath again.

"Maybe it's time you talked to him. It's been long enough. I can drive you."

"No. You're right, I should talk to him. But I'll walk, I need to do this alone."

It's not a long walk from Todd's apartment building to Dirk’s. In less then fifteen minutes Todd would be standing at Dirk's door.  He won't know what to say, or what to do. There will be tears in his eyes and he'll try to wipe them away before Dirk opens the door. He won't be able to do it in time and when Dirk opens the door he'll pull Todd into a hug because Dirk knows how awful Todd's been feeling, as he’s been feeling the same. Maybe worse because he knew it was his fault. He thought it was always his fault. Everything.

"I don't understand, Todd. You should hate me." Dirk said after their not-long-enough embrace.

Todd shook his head. "I can't. I mean, I do. But I miss you and everything is confusing. I just needed to see you."

"I'm glad you're here, Todd. I really am. But I meant what I said. We can't-"

"No, shut up. This whole universe stuff is bullshit. I don't believe you."

Dirk bit his lower lip then sighed. "If I told you the truth, I'd just be putting your life in danger. You should leave."

"I'm not going anywhere. Not until you tell me what's going on."

"Todd please. It's not safe for you to be here. I'm begging you. Just go!"

Dirk had tears in his eyes as he grabbed Todd's arm and tried to push him toward the door. Todd stayed planted in his spot.

"I'm not going anywhere. Not until you tell me what's going on." He repeated.

"Why won't you leave?" Dirk pleaded.

"Because I love you!" Todd shouted.

Dirk took a step back. "You what?"

Todd took a shaky breath, held it for a moment, and sighed.  "I love you, Dirk. And I'm not going anywhere until I know what's going on with you. You obviously still have feelings for me so tell me what's happening. I'll help you figure it out." Todd held Dirk's hands. "We can fix everything. Just please, tell me what's wrong."

"Look, I told you already. If you know the truth it's only putting your life in danger. I'm trying to protect you by staying away. And it sucks, but the less you know, the better. I really do care for you, but I'd rather be heartbroken with you alive than be completely broken with you dead. That's a reality we're going to have to accept. You're too important for me to risk. I'm sorry. So I'm done asking and now I'm telling you." Dirk carefully pulled his hands out of Todd's grasp and backed up. "Get the hell out of my apartment."

Todd nodded but needed one more thing before leaving. He took a step closer to Dirk, closing the gap between them. They kissed for a few short seconds, in the most painful way to say goodbye. They didn't even realize Dirk's phone was ringing until after they pulled away. Todd ignored it and left, leaving Dirk with a mystery voicemail and both of them with broken hearts. Todd's mind was spinning as he walked down the hallway, slowly getting further and further away from Dirk. He was so close to the staircase when a sound broke him away from his thoughts.

"TODD!"

The scream was bone chilling and blood curdling. It would have been entirely heartbreaking, if Todd hadn't been past that point already.

He ran, faster than he thought he could, back to Dirk's apartment. When he got there, Dirk was on the ground, with his knees pulled tight into his chest. He was shaking, gasping for breath between each sob. Todd recognized this as a panic attack and tried to figure out what to do next. His eyes darted around the room until they landed on Dirk's cell phone, which sat only a few feet away from Dirk. Todd grabbed it, and played back the voicemail that was so unknowingly terrifying.

"Did you really think you could hide from me so easily, Svlad? Oh my, we do have a lot to catch up on." A horrifying laugh played on the other end before the voicemail ended. A chill went down Todd's spine. There was nothing to do but wait until Dirk's panic attack subsided.

Once Dirk's breathing slowed down to it's normal rate, Todd looked him in the eyes.

"Dirk? Are you okay?"

Dirk shook his head slowly.

"No, of course not, that was a stupid question. Okay. Who was that, on the phone? Is that who you were talking about before?" Todd investigated. It killed him to see Dirk like this. Whoever that man was, Todd was determined to never let him near Dirk again.

Dirk knew he had to tell Todd the truth. So he did.


	5. A Man Named Oz

Svlad Cjelli was a bright young child growing up in the beautiful country of Romania. He had fantastic friends and wonderful parents who loved him. He had only heard of his Uncle Oz a few times, and sometimes he'd call on Svlad's birthday, but his mother never let the boy talk to his uncle. If he asked questions about him, he was ignored. The man named Oz was just a mystery Svlad was too scared to investigate.

On his 7th birthday, however, there was a knock on the door. The man named Oz had shown up, with a little piece of paper in his hand. He smiled at Svlad's mother and said, "Oh my, we do have a lot to catch up on."

After that, Uncle Oz was frequent in Svlad's life. They spent a lot of time getting to know each other. Svlad enjoyed having a new friend.

"I don't want you getting too close to him, okay dear?" His mother told him one night at dinner.

"Why not? He buys me ice cream and he likes listening to my stories."

His father made a noise in his throat and shifted in his seat.

"You're too young to understand it right now, but he's not a good role model for you to grow up with. I think it's best if you distance yourself from him," His mother explained.

So Svlad listened to his mother and he told his uncle he was too busy with homework or household chores to go out for ice cream for the next couple weeks. Oz wouldn't take no for an answer apparently. For just a few short weeks after the dinner conversation, Svlad came home from school to a nightmare.

There were police cars and ambulances surrounding his house. A policeman told Svlad his parents were killed. That same policeman held the boy as he cried until a man named Oz pulled into the driveway.

"You can't be here, this is a crime scene." Another police officer said.

Oz ignored the protests and held out his hand to greet the officer. "My name is Osmund Priest. I'm the boy's biological father. I heard what happened. I'm here to take him home."

Svlad cried in protest but was ignored. He was forced to go with this man named Oz, who laughed when they were alone and told the boy, "I hope you're happy with yourself. This is all your fault."

That was the start of the worst years of his life. For 7 years, Svlad lived with his abusive father and almost-nice half-sister, Bartine. Oz favored Bart, she was never punished. If she ever did anything wrong, Svlad took the punishment. Of course, she never knew this. In front of Bart, Oz was a wonderful father. But when Bart was gone, Svlad was in for another nightmare, only to be reminded of everything that was his fault. Or at least, that's was Svlad thought.

It wasn't until Bart ran away that Svlad realized Oz was abusive to both of his children. It was only when the siblings were together that Oz had pretended to love them. Svlad only wished he had the courage to run away with his sister. Luckily for him, less than two months after Bart had been gone, the police showed up. They told the scared 15 year old boy that his father was a murderer and was going to jail for a very long time. That as the best news Svlad had heard in many years.

He was taken to America and placed in a home that had already adopted three boys; Martin, Cross, and Gripps - they called themselves the Rowdy 3. The Rowdies were interesting to live with, but they were far from brothers to Svlad. 

When he was 18 the family adopted another boy named Jacob. Svlad decided it was best to give the new guy some room, so he packed his bags and moved to England. He was finally happy there. He changed his name and attitude and didn't bother with friends.

Becoming Dirk Gently was the best decision the boy could have made.

Svlad was tainted, poisoned, by a man named

Mr. Priest


	6. Far From Easy

Dirk held tightly onto Todd, as if he could be ripped away from him at any moment. And knowing Priest as evil as he is, Dirk knew he could lose Todd in the blink of an eye. Dirk closed his eyes and tucked his head into Todd's shoulder. This time, Dirk refused to let him go. He caught his breath as Todd rubbed his back in security.

"I’m not going to let him hurt you." Todd whispered to Dirk. His voice was weak, but he was too afraid to speak any louder.

Dirk had calmed down significantly in Todd's arms, but that was no shock to either of them. Todd was a teddy bear to Dirk, a sanctuary where he could be safe. Todd was a dream Dirk never wanted to wake up from. Unfortunately, he couldn't stay dreaming forever.

Dirk told Todd about the first time Priest escaped from prison. He was in Romania when Dirk was in England. He killed a couple people before being recaptured and was transferred to a higher-security prison in America. Now he's escaped again, and this time he's in the same country as Dirk and has somehow figured out his new identity - anyone with internet access can google Dirk's name and find out where the Coinkydinks were at. That was Dirk's biggest fear. 

They talked about this horrid situation for a while, trying to figure out what they were going to do about it. They decided that Todd was going to stay with Dirk in his apartment, as he was currently unable to sleep on his own. They also decided to tell their friends what was going on, so they'd be on the lookout for anything strange. And eventually they started talking about everything else. Todd was able to distract Dirk from what going on in his life. It felt good to be talking to Dirk again. His voice was like raindrops falling on cement. Careful, bouncy, light. Each word he said, Todd took in like the oxygen he needed to survive. Oh how Todd missed his voice. His laugh. His eyes. Him. Seven days was far too long to go without hearing the voice of the one you love. But now that they were finally together again, they forgot they were ever apart. Something shifted inside Todd as he forgot why he was ever mad at Dirk. For a moment, he could feel peace. But they couldn't stay dreaming forever.

When Todd's phone rang, Dirk's body tensed up. Todd remembered why, and relaxed Dirk by telling him it was only Farah calling.

"Where are you?" She begged in her best mom-voice before Todd could choke out a hello.

"Dirk," was his simple response.

"Why? You know what, it doesn't matter. When will you be home?"

Todd looked at the clock. He'd been at Dirk's for nearly five hours. "Do I need to be?"

"I guess you could just meet us at the concert. But listen, get there early. I need to talk to you." She hung up before Todd could respond.

"Shit, I forgot." He mumbled as he put his phone back in his pocket.

"Forgot about what?" Dirk asked.

"The Rowdy 3 has a concert tonight. I promised Amanda I'd go. If you don't want to though, I'll tell her something came up and I'll stay here with you."

"No, it's fine. I'll go with you."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, sounds like fun."

 ***

Dirk and Todd arrived at the concert before any of the Rowdy 3. Todd found Farah relatively quickly, except she had been waiting for about half an hour. She looked nervous, a different nervous than she usually is. She stood up when she saw the two walking toward her.

"Todd, thank God you're here. Hi Dirk. It's nice to see you. Everything in my life is falling apart." It wasn't uncommon for Farah to announce things like this so casually.

"Okay, what is it?" Todd questioned.

"Well, I might have kissed your sister, I don't remember. And I think Tina asked me out, but I'm not sure. And actually, it's funny because when I told my family I'm a lesbian they told me I was just confused and hadn't met the right guy yet. I thought they were just stupid but I'll tell you what gays, I'm feeling _very_ confused right now!"

"Did you just call us gays?" Dirk wondered.

"That's not important. You kissed my sister?" He sounded a little shocked. He knew Amanda had a crush on Farah for a while, but he didn't think it would ever come of anything.

"At that party, two weeks ago. I have a strange memory of kissing her but I have no idea if it actually happened or if I'm making it up. But you're missing the big picture here. _Tina_."

"What do you mean 'you _think_ she asked you out'?" Dirk pondered.

Farah sighed. "Well we were cuddling on the couch and- and she said 'hey we should go out on a date to celebrate you coming out!' and I said 'yes that sounds like fun!' what does that mean?"

Todd chuckled. "That means you're going out on a date with Tina. Congratulations."

"But what about Amanda?"

"Do you like Amanda?" Dirk investigated.

"Not as much as I like Tina." She admitted.

"Then there you go! Problem solved. Case closed. Go be with Tina and make that cutie your girlfriend," Dirk prompted.

 Farah groaned. "You make it sound so easy."

Todd laughed, with a slight bitter tone to it. "It's far from easy," He sighed.

"Okay, that's fair. Which one of you is going to explain what's going on?"

Dirk looked at Todd. A slight fit of panic flashed in his eyes. Todd locked eyes with Dirk, to relax him.

"It's a long story," Todd said without breaking eye contact. "We'll tell you about it later."

Dirk took in a deep breath and released it slowly. 

Farah understood it was best to not ask questions. 

More people started showing up and the concert started soon. The Rowdy 3 were the first band out of three to play. They had the best set list according to Todd, but wasn't he a little biased? He cheered loudest for his sister, as he always did. Their show was awesome and by the time it was over, Dirk had completely relaxed and given into the night, letting himself free from his own memories. But Todd wouldn't. He couldn't. He kept his eyes open and watching the whole night, he stayed alert for anything out the ordinary. A week without Dirk was too much, he wouldn't be able to handle losing him again.

That night, at the Mexican Funeral's apartment, Dirk and Todd told the majority of their friends the abridged version of what was going on. The Rowdy 3 already knew most of what happened, and nearly started a riot when they heard Priest had escaped. Todd wasn't in the mood to rebuild the entire apartment. Amanda calmed them down. Farah had a million questions that couldn't be answered.

"All I can say is that I'm going to stay with Dirk until this is taken care of. It's best if he's not alone," Todd explained.

"No Todd you can't do that!" Farah protested. "That's too dangerous, what if Priest goes to his apartment, neither of you know any self-defense, it's like putting yourself directly into his trap. Dirk is much safer here. Putting the connection between the two bands probably won't be that easy, besides Panto and Silas but I doubt he'd look that far into things. So Dirk will stay here, I'll stay at Dirk's apartment so there's less of a chance of it being empty if Priest shows up there. Dirk, you need to keep a low profile. Don't post things online, don't make any phone calls to anyone that isn't in this room or in your band. Oh and your band, you can't cancel concerts, that would be too suspicious. We'll have higher security at each one, and we won't hang around after each one, we leave as soon as the show is over. You should meet with them tomorrow and tell them what's going on. And all of us have to collectively agree that our main priority is to keep Dirk safe. Agreed?"

It was no doubt Farah could have been a police officer, or something. But everyone in her family was in law enforcement, she decided it wasn't for her. 

Everyone nodded carefully. Well, not everyone, the rowdies just kind of screamed but that was their equivalent to nodding.

"Dirk, you okay with that?" Todd asked.

Dirk opened his mouth to respond, but closed it a second later and nodded.

Todd raised his eyebrows in a very Todd way at his... _person_.

Dirk smiled, tightly and wrongly, "It's fine. Everything's great."

Todd nodded, knowing everything wasn't fine and definitely not great. But he knew Dirk wouldn't talk about it in front of everyone. Todd grabbed Dirk's hand, as if to reassure him that everything will be fine, but mostly just to hold onto Dirk as long as he can and to make sure they won't be taken away from each other.

The plan was set swiftly into motion. Farah packed a light bag then her, Todd, and Dirk went to Dirk's place to pack a bag for him.

"Okay, now that it's just the three of us - Dirk, tell us what's on your mind."

Dirk stuttered a few random syllables before blowing a raspberry and shrugging.

"Dirk, someone like him doesn't escape without every police officer in the country looking for him. Everything is going to be fine, you're safe. You have nothing to worry about," Farah soothed.

Dirk signed. "He's a murderer Farah. And I've dragged all of you into this. I've put your lives in danger. And that's my fault." His voice was dull and almost sounded numb.

Again, Todd grabbed Dirk's hand. "That's not true. None of this is your fault."

Dirk pulled his hand away from Todd's. "He's looking for me, Todd. All of those people he's killed already, have been to get to me. The only two people he wouldn't kill are me and my sister and God know where she is."

"We're going to get through this, Dirk. Just breathe, okay?" Todd prompted.

Dirk gulped and nodded. They got his stuff together and left. Dirk and Todd slept with inches between them in Todd's bed. Todd wanted to hold Dirk, but when he tried, Dirk flinched away. The first couple nights were like that, until Dirk started to feel a little more relaxed and he wrapped his arms around Todd as they slept. Life went on, and eventually it became their new normal. It was easy to relax when there were no new messages from Priest. It was almost like he had disappeared.


	7. I Can't do This if You're in Prison for Murder

Weeks went on. There was no news regarding Mr. Priest's whereabouts. Dirk hadn't heard from him since the first phone call. He relaxed a little more as time went on. Gradually the thought was pushed to the back of everyone's minds, but the fear was still there. Todd wouldn't let himself relax, however. He always had his eyes on Dirk, never dareing the risk of turning away and never seeing him again. Of course, Todd didn't realize that if Mr. Priest showed up, it wouldn't be Dirk that would be at risk. It would be Todd himself, and all of their friends. It would never be Dirk. Priest could never kill his own children. He never even considered it. He wanted them so he could have power over something. He wanted someone to be in charge of. Not that he even thought of them as people. Merely objects to help him do his dirty work. Just _things_ that he wanted to torture rather than murder.

"Want to go out after the show tonight?" Dirk asked Todd as he was in the middle of packing his case up.

Todd's eyes flickered around the room to see who was all in there. "Is that a good idea? Maybe we should just stay in tonight. Watch a couple movies?"

Dirk sighed. "Yeah. Sounds good."

Todd gave Dirk a tight smile and continued on with his stage set up. He knew it didn't sound good.  But he wasn't going to risk anything. It sounded safe,  but far from good. The show went on. It was actually the perfect line up.  Rowdy 3 went first,  then the Coinkydinks,  and Mexican Funeral closed the show for the night. 

Todd looked through the dark red curtain. He was backstage packing everything up when he saw the little hole in the curtain.

"What are you doing?" Farah asked as if this was weird for Todd. He always looked at what was left of an audience after a show.

He was about to turn back and shrug it off, but as he turned his head, a familiar face seemed to jump out at him. His blood ran cold.  For a moment he was frozen in fear. But the moment ended quickly. 

"Todd?"

"Go get Dirk. Tell him to go wait in the car until we're ready to leave." Todd ordered. He didn't want Dirk to be anywhere near what could happen. 

"What's going on?" an excitedly British voice said behind Todd. 

"Dirk, can you go wait in the car until we leave?"

"Why?" Dirk looked worried, but was still smiling in the terrifying my-life-is-about-to-fall-apart-isnt-it type of smiles. 

Farah was typing 9-1-1 into her phone as she nodded to Todd and said "Tell him." She put the phone to her ear and walked off to somewhere slightly more quiet.

Todd took a shake breath. "Priest is here."

Dirk froze where he stood. He would have been shaking, if he wasn't too scared to move.

"No, Dirk look at me. Don't freak out. It's going to be fine. Farah's calling the police. They'll get him and it's going to be fine.  You're going to be okay, just relax. It's gonna be fine." Todd's voice shook, but he tried hard not to let it waiver. He didn't want Dirk to know how nervous he was.

But it didn't matter. Dirk was lost inside himself. He shook his head so softly, he didn’t dare make any too-obvious movements. Even though the man was on the other side of the curtain, the fear of Priest seeing him was everywhere. “No, Todd. It’s too late. You’re dead. I’ve lost. It’s over. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Todd grabbed Dirk’s hand and tried to pull him away.

Dirk wouldn't move. 

"Dirk, come on. We need to get you out of here."

Dirk shook his head. "I have to go with him." 

"No," Todd whispered in disbelief. "You can't. You're not going anywhere with him."

"I have to. If I don't he'll kill you. I'm sorry I have to go."

Dirk pulled his arm out of Todd's grip and walked through the curtain. Naturally, Todd followed him, and the rest of the bands followed Todd.

Instinctively, Dirk froze when he saw Priest.

The man smiled. "Oh my, look what we have here. Slvad finally has some friends, I never would have guessed. I wonder if they know what a monster you really are," He paused to look around at everyone, then landed his eyes back on Dirk. "Icarus."

Dirk took a shaky breath and looked at Todd. He couldn't bare to look at Priest any longer.

"He's not the monster here." Todd spoke up. His voice didn't sound like his own. The man was intimidating - to say the least. He stood as if he owned the place. Todd was beginning to think he did.

"I suppose you think I am? Well, you wouldn't be wrong. Like father, like son. Isn't that right, Svlad?"

Dirk shivered. "Yes, sir."

"No. It's not. And he's not Svlad anymore. His name is Dirk, and he doesn't belong to you," Todd defended.

"Yeah screw off, Dick!" Amanda barked.

Priest giggled. "Well someone has a temper. How cute."

"What are we waiting for? It's him! He's the guy! Let's stomp his ass!" Vogel shrieked.

"That's very though of you, Jacob," Priest teased.

Vogel made a sort of growling sound that almost resembled an angry puppy. He lunged toward Priest but Martin grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back before any of the other Rowdies joined in.

"Slow down there boys." Martin advised. "Them's fightin' words."

"Good. You know there's no reason for any kind of fisticuffs you boys are so interested in." Priest quipped.

Suddenly, bad ass Farah Black stepped up. "Oh, I think there's a need for violence here, actually."

"Blow my mind," Priest tested.

Farah looked a Martin and gave him a little nod.

Martin smiled. "Boys! Snack time!"

In the mess of the Rowdies jumping Mr. Priest, Farah grabbed Dirk and Todd and pulled them out of the building. The rest of the other two bands followed.

"What the hell was that? That's the guys that-that-that murdered your parents, Dirk? Holy shit! Farah did you plan that with the rowdies?" Tina freaked out.

"I needed something to stall Priest until the police get here."

"Wait,  where's Amanda?" Todd asked. 

"She's inside, with her boys," Farah explained.

"What? No! I have to go get her."

Todd tried to run back inside but at least three pairs of arms stopped him - probably more.

"The police will be here any second. He's unarmed and its five against one, she'll be fine. Especially with the other Rowdies, they won't let him hurt her." Farah soothed.

"Farah you don't understand," Todd muttered softly. "She could-"

"AHHHH!!"

Amanda's piercing scream was easy to hear over the distant sound of sirens.

Todd broke away from his friends' arms and ran inside calling his sister's name. Farah and the rest of the group followed him shouting his name.

Inside, Priest was on the ground, hands hiding his damaged face as he groaned. It was an incredibly beautiful sight to see, in all honestly, but no one was focused on him. A few feet away, Amanda shook with fear still sputtering small yelps of pain and and jagged breathing. She gripped at her chest, as if trying to rip her clothes off. Everyone hovered over her. Todd pushed them all back.

"Give her room to breathe, guys!"

He was about to run backstage to get her pills, but as he thought of it, Vogel was already running back. He throw the medicine bottle at Martin, who them put one of the pills in Amanda mouth. It only took her a couple seconds to get her grip back on reality.

"You okay, Drummer?" Martin asked softly.

She gave him a light nod.

"What happened in this one, Boss?" Vogel begged.

"What he hit me, I thought - uh - I thought he had stabbed me," She explained. She took a deep breath and stood up.

Farah made it a point to notice how hot Amanda looked as she walked over to Priest.

The man took his hands off his face. There was a little blood dripping from his lip. Well - a lot of blood. His nose was definitely broken. He stood up to face Amanda. Even in heels, she was still so much shorter than him.

He let out a sinful snicker. "Come back for more?"

"You wish."

Todd noticed a lot of things before they happened, he had a weird talent of being able to tell when something bad was coming. He felt something shift in the air and he noticed it all too fast. And sometimes he would move too fast himself, and he wouldn’t even realize he’d done something spectacular until someone thanked him. When he saw Priest pull something out of his pocket, he knew this would be one of those moments. The police sirens were louder, he knew the were just outside the door. If they get inside before anything-

Too late.

Todd pushed Amanda out of the way before Priest could do anything else. He was barely in time. The knife grazed over his arm as the police came charging into the empty venue. It wasn't difficult for them to get Priest out of there. He didn't put up a fight. As they were dragging him out of the building Todd looked into his eyes to try to find a real human. But there was nothing. Black eyes and black soul. Priest was dead in there.

"Todd!" Dirk shouted. "You're bleeding."

"Oh, it's nothing. He hardly got me. Are you okay?"

Dirk shook. "He could have really hurt you, Todd. I'm sorry I dragged you all into this. I didn't want anyone to get hurt. I'm sorry. This is my fault."

Todd grabbed Dirk shoulders, holding him in place before he could spiral. "Hey, look at me. This is not your fault. Everything is fine, okay? You have nothing to be sorry for."

Dirk nodded nervously. He seemed to only believe Todd's words at 50% but that was better than nothing to Todd.

"You okay?" Farah asked Amanda.

"Yeah. That was kind of awesome."

Todd shot a look at his sister.

"In a totally scary and I'm-glad-we-didn't-die kind of way," She fixed.

Todd nodded.

"Okay, Dirk. The police are going to want to take you in for questioning. I just talked with them, they said you can come in tomorrow if you're up for it," Farah explained.

"I want this to be over," Dirk sighed.

"It will be, soon. I promise."

"Will it be over sooner if I go in tonight? I want this to be done. I want him gone."

Todd gripped Dirk's hand a little tighter. "You'll be okay."

Dirk nodded slowly and let go of Todd's hand to go follow Farah to the police.

Everyone went back home while they waited for Dirk and Farah to get back from the police station.

Todd was pacing the apartment for nearly two hours. He also might have texted Dirk's phone thirteen (13) times. Tina and Silas were already in bed by the time Dirk and Farah got home. When they got home, Todd ran over to the door to greet them.

"How did it go? Are you okay?"

Dirk nodded.

"It was rough," Farah said. "But they got Priest. He's not going to come back. Ever."

Todd never knew he could feel so relieved. "Thank God." He pulled Dirk into a tight hug. "I told you everything was going to be okay."

Dirk didn't say anything, but just tucked his head into Todd's shoulder.

"I'll let you two talk. I'm going to bed. Goodnight." Farah walked off to her room.

"How are you?" Todd asked softly.

"It's really over, right?" Dirk begged.

"It better be. If it's not, if he comes back, I'll kill him."

"Oh, don't do that."

"Why not?"

Dirk lifted his head. "I can't do this if you're in prison for murder." He set his hand on Todd's cheek and pulled his face closer to his. He kissed Todd softly and passionately. Todd's heart might have stopped. But that's okay. He was starting to get used to how happy Dirk made him, but that feeling in his chest never went away.

When Dirk pulled away Todd mumbled, "That's fair. Remind me to never go to jail. I don't think I could survive very long without doing that."

Dirk nodded in agreement. They stood together in each other’s arms for a perfect moment.

”Todd?”

”Yeah?”

”I love you, too.”


End file.
